Rubber witnesses uptrend

Kottayam: The physical rubber prices increased on Aug 21. The market gained in tune with the overall mood in domestic and international futures. Sheet rubber increased to Rs 86 a kg from 84 a kg at Kottayam and Kochi. The rubber futures was strong in leading commodity exchanges as some of its monthly contracts broke the initial daily upward limit of 2 per cent followed by fresh buying and short covering. The near month September contract for RSS 4 increased sharply to Rs 85.77 from Rs 83.56 a kg on MCX. The September contract for the grade flared up to Rs 85.91 (83.62), October to Rs 82.06 (81.18), November to Rs 81.70 (80.22) and December contract to Rs 81.30 (79.22) per kg on NMCE. RSS 3 improved at its September futures to 237.3 Yen (Rs 85.50) a kg from 235 Yen a kg at TOCOM. Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 86 (84); RSS-5: 82.50 (81); ungraded: 80.50 (79); ISNR 20: 82.50 (81.25) and latex 60 per cent: 60.50 (60).